O’Neill Center to offer several outdoor solo shows

No staged readings planned this summer

Waterford — After hosting no on-campus public performances last summer because of COVID-19, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center will offer several this year.

There won’t be staged readings of works selected for its National Playwrights Conference and National Music Conference. The National Puppetry Conference will be entirely virtual.

But there will be a number of live, outdoor, open-to-the-public solo performances, including those by headliners at the Cabaret & Performance Conference in August.

Chandler Smith, O’Neill associate producer, said, “We’re so excited to welcome (audiences) back, and everything that we have done and everything we’re going to do is being decided from a place of absolute joy in the fact that it’s going to reach our audiences again. We hope they’ll come in and engage with us.”

And, of course, from a place of safety: COVID-19 protocols will be in place, including masks and social distancing.

The cabaret conference shows will be Aug. 5-14, with exact dates, times and performers to be announced. The O’Neill Cabaret Fellows and Junior Fellows also will be featured. The Cabaret Fellows are performers who get instruction during the conference from professionals. The Junior Fellows are middle and high school students. Both programs will be held in-person on the O’Neill campus this year.

There will be new events that the public can attend.

New “casual concerts” dubbed “Garden Gatherings” will boast solo performances by O’Neill alumni. People can attend in pods of up to six people and sit in a marked and socially distanced circle on the grass in the center’s Sunken Garden. These shows will be at 4 p.m. June 13 and 20, and July 11 and 18.

The public can learn about unique aspects of the center’s conferences during the storytelling, interviews and demonstrations that will be part of the “Saturday Spotlight” on campus on June 26, July 10 and 24 and Aug. 7. Artists and times will be announced later.

Artists on campus

While there won’t be staged readings for the plays and music theater works, those conferences will be held. They will use a hybrid model and will “focus on collaboration and development through on-campus writer residencies, community building and mentorship with top professionals across the industry,” according to the center.

Through those on-campus residencies, Smith said, writers will be able to “engage with the professionals that O’Neill offers and has access to, which is one of the best things that we can offer someone. So while they last summer had that all virtually, this summer it will be a mix of virtual and in-person engagement, where they’re able to enjoy the setting of the O’Neill and the location of the O’Neill and the beautiful campus and take a step away from their life to really focus in (on their work) but also still have access to those professionals.”

Some of those professionals will be on campus while others will be connecting online.

Smith said a lot of consideration went into the decision to not do staged readings this year, “but at the forefront for us when planning this summer was supporting our artists and creating a welcoming environment that also was a safe environment. So for both our audiences and the individuals coming, we wanted to make sure everyone felt well taken care of but also that (the artists) were able to really focus on the work they can do at the O’Neill.”

The O’Neill will announce in coming weeks which writers have been chosen for the conferences and how the center will highlight their work.

Virtual puppetry

The first O’Neill summer conference on deck is puppetry. An open-to-the-public master class series on Zoom with world-renowned puppetry artists runs from 2 to 3 p.m. June 7-11 and cost $15 per class. The conference’s popular Puppets in the Pub goes virtual, as well. Folks at home can watch the open mics for free online from 9 to 10 p.m. June 7, 9 and 11.

The National Critics Institute will be virtual July 5-10, and the National Theater Institute’s Theatermakers Summer Intensive will train 26 students in a credit-earning curriculum of acting, directing and playwriting on campus.

In other summer O’Neill news: A fundraiser called Beech Party will take place the night of July 31 under a tent in the O’Neill’s Sunken Garden. It will boast cocktails, live entertainment and a sit-down dinner at sunset.

And the O’Neill’s Blue Gene’s Pub will be open on weekends. Local musicians will perform live (artists to be announced), and the pub will have additional outdoor seating.